Search found 2651 matches

by Mollycat
Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:50 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: British blue snuffles
Replies: 2
Views: 1066

Re: British blue snuffles

Hi, please never give human medicines to cats unless a qualified vet gives you the OK and correct dosage. There are some antihistamines that can be given to pets but not all, and dosage is important. Not sure the breed is relevant, but is this cat a pedigree originally from a breeder who had several...
by Mollycat
Sat Aug 13, 2022 8:02 am
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: Making nightmare decision
Replies: 6
Views: 1438

Re: Making nightmare decision

They do govern every aspect of our lives, every waking moment especially when they interrupt our sleep! Literally everywhere we look is an emptiness like a knife in the chest all over again and there's a dread silence so thick that no sound can pierce it. I remember many years ago another cat, and t...
by Mollycat
Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:41 pm
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: Making nightmare decision
Replies: 6
Views: 1438

Re: Making nightmare decision

In a few days it will be the third anniversary of my tough decision for Boo, who was 15 and had been increasingly struggling with some digestive issues. What gets me every time is how the little beggars rally, as soon as you have made decisions and arrangements, and it's easier to cancel everything ...
by Mollycat
Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:10 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: cat keeps scratching the walls at 5am
Replies: 6
Views: 8366

Re: cat keeps scratching the walls at 5am

sometimes i feel like im a mother of an actual teenager whos smarter than me :lol: That's because animals are. Cats and dogs. They have all these skills, senses and abilities, and nothing to do with them but learn about us and get what they want from us. Their whole existence is dedicated to one jo...
by Mollycat
Fri Aug 12, 2022 8:37 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: cat keeps scratching the walls at 5am
Replies: 6
Views: 8366

Re: cat keeps scratching the walls at 5am

I'm afraid your mother has created the situation, as fjm rightly says, by rewarding the undesirable behaviour with the attention Luna wants. Luna has got your mother well trained! To break the habit she will have to invest some time ignoring Luna completely and be warned it will get worse before it ...
by Mollycat
Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:18 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Annual Vaccination
Replies: 11
Views: 9110

Re: Annual Vaccination

Wow, insurance companies (and catteries) need to get with the times - the annual booster protocol is not even necessarily recommended, for cats at least. That said insurance companies will wiggle out of anything and it's a massive factor in our decision not to insure our animals.
by Mollycat
Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:31 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Anxiety?
Replies: 2
Views: 8300

Re: Anxiety?

Answers are two a penny, much more important is to find the right questions. Can you tell us a bit more (a LOT more) about your cat and you - something has changed a couple of weeks ago to make this change in behaviour, so if we can figure out what then that might give some clues. Did you lose anoth...
by Mollycat
Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:20 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Annual Vaccination
Replies: 11
Views: 9110

Re: Annual Vaccination

the 12 month limit was the manufacturer's way of protecting themselves from any law suit if a cat did get ill in the last few months as the vaccine was wearing off a bit. I don't think you would have a problem with waiting until your own vet got supplies back in, or you could ring around and see if...
by Mollycat
Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:31 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Inconsistent blood test results - CKD
Replies: 3
Views: 449

Re: Inconsistent blood test results - CKD

(Thanks for adding the reference ranges, these can be different at different labs hence being always important.) Good morning, I have been reading up a bit more on SDMA and it seems that too can be affected by factors such as hydration status, which could explain the ups and downs. I was under the i...
by Mollycat
Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:28 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Inconsistent blood test results - CKD
Replies: 3
Views: 449

Re: Inconsistent blood test results - CKD

Did the results also have, usually in brackets after each result, the reference range or normal range? Numbers benefit from context. That said, I believe numbers aren't really all that important in the early stages with no symptoms. Did your vet give you an IRIS stage (1-4)? In stage 1 and sometimes...
by Mollycat
Sat Aug 06, 2022 7:18 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: cat that bites
Replies: 2
Views: 390

Re: cat that bites

It sounds like overstimulation to me. We had a walk-in adoptee cat who was just as you describe and she got much worse after I moved out and would visit once a week. But it was me who sorted it out! Does your cat twitch or flick his tail, or put his ears back, or show any sign he is about to bite? Y...
by Mollycat
Sat Aug 06, 2022 11:53 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Bengal cross maybe
Replies: 3
Views: 1430

Re: Bengal cross maybe

In fairness Susand I think there as as many exceptions as subscribers to breed descriptions, with the possibly exception of naturally occurring or very ancient breeds like Birman, Siamese and Van, or Bengal which has some recently wild genes of a different species in the mix. Felis Sylvestris has be...
by Mollycat
Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:43 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Advice sought on liver supplements please
Replies: 6
Views: 679

Re: Advice sought on liver supplements please

Dinah was sucessfully treated for HT with radio iodine last October. Her recent T4 test was very good. Normal range for ALT is up to 60. Vet says results of up to three times top end of range usually not that concerning and Dinah tested 180 last December which we basically ignored. Vet says more re...
by Mollycat
Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:48 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Advice sought on liver supplements please
Replies: 6
Views: 679

Re: Advice sought on liver supplements please

Nothing helpful here but just to offer my one and only experience of both those values raised in a blood test. The same blood test also revealed hyperthyroidism but ALT was higher than expected purely for HT and the vet said the bilirubin was unrelated to HT, which it isn't necessarily. HT took prio...
by Mollycat
Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:01 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Indoor cats
Replies: 7
Views: 714

Re: Indoor cats

That reminds me of my ex aunt in law's cat, a prolific fighter in a densely populated area who tested positive for "cat AIDS" - FelV I think. More than one disease has been referred to that way. He had to be kept in to prevent other cats that he fought with from catching it too. He went so...
by Mollycat
Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:34 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Indoor cats
Replies: 7
Views: 714

Re: Indoor cats

Regardless of the rights and wrongs, a cat who hunts a lot is likely to be much harder to keep indoors than one who isn't all that bothered. Whether your boy is willing to become an indoor cat, that is the question, more than whether it's ok or not. In other words, it has to be up to the cat, regard...
by Mollycat
Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:29 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat biting unprovoked
Replies: 3
Views: 401

Re: Cat biting unprovoked

It's very difficult to offer thoughts on this one behaviour without seeing what your relationship is like generally with your cat. From a cat's point of view there is no such thing as unprovoked, there is some trigger or reason for doing it. My instinct is whispering frustration to me. Is this an in...
by Mollycat
Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:23 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Just a bad vaccine reaction?
Replies: 3
Views: 468

Re: Just a bad vaccine reaction?

I think most members here are UK based where we don't have the rabies shot, but I have noticed vets don't seem to massage the injection site for half a minute after giving a shot any more. The purpose of massaging was to prevent lumps so the dropping of this practice along with a rise in post inject...
by Mollycat
Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:17 pm
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: Lost My Boy Blaming Myself
Replies: 2
Views: 1189

Re: Lost My Boy Blaming Myself

I think deep down you know cancer can't be caused by a trauma or anything you could have done. But it sounds like you also know grieving does funny things to your head including searching desperately to find something you could have done to make a different outcome. It's what we do, we look for a le...
by Mollycat
Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:38 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Is my cat turning feral?
Replies: 4
Views: 1308

Re: Is my cat turning feral?

Sounds like this is a very happy move for him and he is loving his new home!
by Mollycat
Thu Jul 28, 2022 5:22 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Help! Poorly cat advice needed
Replies: 37
Views: 1753

Re: Help! Poorly cat advice needed

You have done all you could for him and given him a wonderful life, and now the sad time has come when all you have left to give is to alleviate his suffering. It is the greatest and hardest gift we have to give.

I am so sorry to read this news and wish you love and Arthur a gentle peaceful closure.
by Mollycat
Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:11 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Moving home
Replies: 12
Views: 2450

Re: Moving home

You can help them to develop a healthy respect for hazards by being out with them and deliberately scaring them when they go near something they shouldn't, if you have first developed a trusting bond where they look to you for guidance when they feel unsure. It's just replicating a potentially dange...
by Mollycat
Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:20 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Moving home
Replies: 12
Views: 2450

Re: Moving home

Thanks for the good news update.

Why does he need to stop using his tray? I now only have an indoor home but I would never not supply a tray indoors as well.
by Mollycat
Sat Jul 23, 2022 5:18 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: 3 month old kitten loose stools with blood
Replies: 2
Views: 334

Re: 3 month old kitten loose stools with blood

There seems to be a particularly nasty bug doing the rounds, mainly dogs, but I was up most of the night earlier this week with my cat feeling very sorry for herself, 4 liquid and extremely stinky poops and 24 hours of no pees, after a long time off her food. Our dog has been on chicken and rice or ...
by Mollycat
Sat Jul 23, 2022 5:10 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Kitten destroying curtains
Replies: 2
Views: 321

Re: Kitten destroying curtains

Please don't spray a cat or kitten except if there is a real and immediate danger to life. Cats' do not respond well to this form of punishment and as you're seeing for yourself, it doesn't work when used all the time, but it could turn your lovely kitten into a fearful, aggressive, dangerous cat. A...
by Mollycat
Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:46 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Single CKD kitty Mom - how to work and care for her
Replies: 5
Views: 1259

Re: Single CKD kitty Mom - how to work and care for her

What meds is she on and how time-critical are they? Great plan suggested by fjm, all I can say is I'm on my third CKD cat and have never done anything special with them, just a change of diet and a watchful eye for any signs of deterioration. As for leaving her for a while at a time, she may be a li...
by Mollycat
Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:18 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Not sure whether I should ask neighbours about their cat
Replies: 6
Views: 465

Re: Not sure whether I should talk to neighbours about their cat

I think I'd be more comfortable if you had said ask your neighbours about their cat, rather than talk to . The cat is free to leave, free to wander down the road in search of water or a new home. I am wary because I have dealt with cats that people have tried to help only to cause major problems and...
by Mollycat
Fri Jul 15, 2022 9:15 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: I Have the Best Cat In The World Because ...
Replies: 10
Views: 999

Re: I Have the Best Cat In The World Because ...

Agreed, and well put Ruth. Booktigger, you remind me of the first times I was able to walk past Molly without her bolting under the bed. It's taken me all this time to understand that cats can hide emotional pain just like they hide physical pain, and at least for Molly a step into trust is accompan...
by Mollycat
Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:10 am
Forum: Rescue & Rehoming - General
Topic: Amount of time needed with a new cat
Replies: 3
Views: 1580

Re: Amount of time needed with a new cat

I'm not really sure about taking too much time off work to help a new cat settle in. Firstly a cat normally likes to settle into the place first without too much interaction from the humans (though it's great if you're there but still and quiet) but secondly there's something to be said for "st...